


Burned Too Badly

by voleuse



Category: Angel: the Series
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-04-26
Updated: 2004-04-26
Packaged: 2017-10-08 17:28:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/77840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voleuse/pseuds/voleuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They were close once.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Burned Too Badly

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers up to 5.18.

  
_i. warzone_  
Angel mentions the existence of a gang of demon hunters, living on the streets. Wesley had assumed as much; large cities like Los Angeles would crumble if not for regular citizens taking initiative.  
He jots down someone's name in a notebook, someone Angel seems to think is important.  
Charles Gunn.

_ii. to shanshu in l.a._

Gunn doesn't like hospitals. He doesn't like the smell, he doesn't like the sickness, and he doesn't like the orderlies looking at him like he's about to make off with a fistful of morphine.  
Angel asked him to be here, though, and to keep his people safe, and that's something Gunn can respect.  
The girl, Cordelia, is under pretty heavy guard already, given her condition, so he only checks in on her every half hour.  
The other guy, though, Wesley, looks like he's been battered pretty heavily, and Gunn thinks if anyone comes for this guy, he can handle it.

_iii. judgment_

Wesley's not sure what to make of Gunn, at first. After from the embarrassing incident with his name, Gunn has treated him with a mixture of amusement and condescension.  
It's a little irritating, but Wesley isn't going to argue with Angel's decision in the matter. He thinks Gunn might be an asset, and despite Gunn's attitude, Wesley is inclined to agree.  
Gunn prowls around Cordelia's living room, an eye on the markerboard, and Cordelia offers him a drink.  
He declines, explaining that he has to get back to his "crew."  
"Later, English," he grins, and then he's out the door.

_iv. redefinition_

Gunn's not sure why being fired bothers him so much, but he doesn't bother to lie when he runs into Wesley and Cordelia at Caritas.  
He's used to fighting the good fight, but Angel used to exude a sense of purpose that Gunn liked. It had meant that there was more than this, than surviving the night and hoping the next one will go just as well.  
He watches Cordy and English down the fruitiest drinks known to man _and_ demonkind  
When she moves to tequila, and he to whiskey, Gunn finally orders a beer, and they drink as comrades.

_v. the thin dead line_

The day after he's been shot, Wesley opens his eyes and finds Gunn there.  
"Cordelia had an audition," Gunn explains.  
Wesley tries to reply, but it hurts to breathe. His hand hovers over his wound.  
Gunn raises an eyebrow. "Y'know, that gunshot ain't nothing compared to the scars I've got." He shrugs his jacket off, then pulls at the neckline of his shirt, exposing the edge of a wide, jagged scar. "First vamp I dusted solo."  
Wesley notices something else, an inked name scrawled beside the scar. "Tattoo?"  
Gunn turns, his face blank. "My sister."  
"Sister?"  
Gunn nods tightly. "She died."  
Wesley reaches out for the cup of water by his bed. Gunn grabs it, holds it steady as Wesley drinks from the straw.  
"Thanks," Wesley rasps. "What happened?"  
Gunn looks down at his hands. "Vampire."  
"She was killed by a vampire?"  
"No." Gunn meets Wesley's eyes. "She was one."

_vi. waiting in the wings_

Gunn doesn't think love conquers all, but knowing Fred feels the same way? Damn sure helps with the pain.  
As Wesley finishes bandaging Gunn's wound, he murmurs a quiet congratulations.  
"Thanks, Wes," Gunn says, flexing his arm to test the bandage, then he smiles and kisses Fred again.  
If Wesley leaves the room, he doesn't realize it until much later.  
Gunn hopes Wesley doesn't mind too much--they had both expressed interest in Fred, but she picked him.  
He doesn't know how he'd feel if things went the other way, but he hopes that he'd be as cool as Wesley.

_vii. forgiving_

Wesley opens his eyes. He's in a hospital, and Gunn is standing over him. It's all very familiar, and he has to think for a moment before he remembers recent events.  
"Angel freaked out a little," Gunn says. "You remember why?"  
Wesley can't speak, but he manages to nod.  
"Connor's _gone_, Wes." Gunn doesn't sit down, and the lights of the hospital room halo about him, leaving his face in shadow. "Holtz took him. He jumped through a portal and it closed."  
Wesley can hear his heart monitor beeping, erratically, and he wonders whether a nurse will come.  
"He was just a baby, Wes, and now he's in hell." Gunn's voice is shaking. "We found your notes about the prophecy, Wes. Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you tell me? We could have helped you."  
More monitors are beeping now.  
"I don't know you, Wesley."  
And then he's gone.

_viii. the magic bullet_

Jasmine tells them they need to love each other, and Gunn knows, deep down in his bones, that she's right. He doesn't know why they bothered with Fred _(traitorbitchmonster)_ when they had each other. They lie in bed, touching each other, and hope one day that she'll choose them. Together.

_ix. origin_

The past has flooded into Wesley, wave after wave of knowledge, and he sits in his apartment and lets it pool over him. He hopes he'll drown in it.  
_The scalpel slid through Gunn smoothly, and Wesley felt a surge of satisfaction, almost tactile._  
They've told him where Gunn is, Escher's version of hell, where everything ends at the bottom of a staircase, and Gunn's heart is ripped out every cycle.  
_After figuring out Gunn's part in the affair, Wesley had sat. Calculated. Chosen a punishment for Gunn. Not only pain, but guilt, as well. A lifetime of remembering his betrayal of Fred. Of Wesley._  
Wesley has no evidence of Justine's attack, no angry wound where his life's blood poured out. He can feel it, though, and he wonders if the pain is anywhere near what Gunn experienced.  
_He summoned the medical team calmly. They stepped over the doctor's body, and asked what had happened to Gunn. Wesley told them the truth and watched them shiver._  
Illyria is asking him questions again, but he doesn't have any answers. He doesn't know anything, but what he's done.  
He wonders if he can trade places with Gunn.  
It wouldn't be punishment enough.


End file.
